Rudie Can't Fail
by phoenixfire53
Summary: The School of Rock thought they were screwed when they couldn't find a stand-in for Katie - well, at least until a girl by the name of Maddie James showed up at Horace Green. FAIR WARNING - OC INCLUDED.
1. The Uniform

**Author's Note: **Shizamsky, dudes! I couldn't help myself – I had to give in to the plot bunny that's been bothering me for the last few days, and whaddaya know, my first SoR fanfic. :D Hope you guys all enjoy!

**Title: **Rudie Can't Fail

**Summary: **The School of Rock thought they were screwed when they couldn't find a replacement bassist for Katie – well, at least until a girl by the name of Maddie James showed up at Horace Green.

**Rating: **T. 'Nuff said.

**Pairing: **Freddy/OC. DER. I can't help myself – Spazzy's pretty damn cute. :)

**Disclaimer: **I own only Maddie James and the plot for this here story – _MY _character and _MY _plot line. Other than that, I own nothing. Anywho, read on and enjoy! :D

**NOTE TO ALL READERS: **Okay – I'll say right now that as far as opinions go, to each his (or I should say _her_) own; and as far as reviews go, freakin' give 'em to me. If you like the story, GREAT; if you don't, EVEN BETTER. If you think the story could be better, shoot me a PM with ideas for improvement. As an author, I'm a complete whore for constructive criticism – sad, yes, but very true. I practically live for constructive criticism. :)

That aside, if you're only looking to haze me and/or bash my story just to be a jackass, **DON'T BOTHER READING MY STORY, REVIEWING MY STORY, OR PM-ING ME. **It's not that I can't take the heat of you hardcore flamers. I could if I felt like it – and at the moment, I _don't feel like it. _I'm sorry, but you select people just annoy the hell outta me, and frankly, you aren't worth my time.

Another thing – I get it with the Mary-Sues. Super-perfect, super-pretty, smart/dumb, super-talented blah-blah-blah – I GET IT. THEY SUCK. They're the poster children for "I obviously didn't think about my character or my story". I hate 'em just as much as the next person. That said though, **I DON'T WANNA HEAR IT (**well, I do – just not in the "your story and character sucks balls and you should stop writing" style**)**. If you think my OC's the epitome of a Mary-Sue and that I need to kill her dead – 1. I'll try to spruce her up so she's realistic; and 2. – Fabulous that you think so, but **PLEASE, DON'T BROADCAST HOW MUCH YOU HATE MY CHARACTER TO THOSE THAT ARE TRYING TO ENJOY MY WORK. **

I'm not looking to win a Pulitzer for my fanfic; I'm just here to entertain the masses with a twist on a crowd favorite, and this is one way to do it. So, read on, and if you like it, keep reading; if you don't, then spare us all the Charlie Sheen-esque roast and find something else that suits you. **END OF DISCUSSION.**

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Maddie James wanted to keel over and die when she walked into her Aunt Dana's spare bedroom Monday morning and saw the uniform laid out neatly on the mattress. Uniforms meant private school; and in Maddie's eyes, private school meant no freedom or joy for the next seven hours of her day.

She swore softly, and ran a hand over her sleep-swollen face. "No, she's not making me do this…" she moaned miserably as she squinted at the blouse-skirt-jacket combo and white knee-high socks in front of her. "Oh my god, no… What the fuck is Aunt Dana doing to me?"

With a hiss, Maddie pivoted on her heel, and stomped back downstairs to confront her aunt. She stalked into the kitchen, where she found her guardian sitting in the breakfast nook, rereading headliners from the newspaper, drinking the same cup of coffee that she'd poured almost twenty minutes ago.

"I take it you saw the uniform?" Aunt Dana asked statically, not bothering to remove her gaze from her reading material to look at her niece.

"Yeah, I saw the freckin' uniform," Maddie scowled in irritation before cutting to the chase. "What's it doing in my room?"

Aunt Dana blinked. "I laid it out while you were eating breakfast." She paused briefly, actually tearing her eyes from the Monday morning paper to look at Maddie, who was rapidly growing more pissed off as the seconds ticked by. "Look, I already know that you're here to complain about the uniform and all, but face it – you're enrolled at Horace Green Prep now until your mother returns, and that's that. Clear?"

"YOU PUT ME IN PREP SCHOOL-"

"Answer the question, _Madeleine_."

"Crystal," Maddie ground out through her teeth, now wanting desperately to reach out and strangle Aunt Dana for both the surprise enrollment and use of her much-hated first name.

"Glad to hear. Now get dressed, and do it quickly – it's a twenty-minute drive to the school, and I'm not about to let you waltz in late."

Maddie huffed in deep aggravation, but she reluctantly backtracked upstairs to the bedroom, slammed the door shut, and exchanged her pajamas for the uniform in silence and privacy.

_This fucking blows, _Maddie's thoughts grumbled in aggravation as she finished buttoning up her blouse, and got to work on the knee-highs. _Not only did my aunt stick me in private school, but I have to wear this stupid fucking getup, too. _Angrily, she shoved her right foot into a sock, and yanked it up her leg roughly (maybe a little _too _roughly), causing the bottom to split and a run to form along it. As soon as that happened, Maddie snarled in frustration. _Goddamn it, and I fucking HATE these fucking knee-high socks! Arrgh, FUCK!_

Quickly, Maddie finished with the socks, and after pulling on a beat-to-hell pair of Corcoran jump boots (as much as she despised having to wear the uniform, she'd be damned if she was gonna walk around her new school with visibly fucked up-looking socks like she was a redneck – hence, on went the jump boots) and dropping six or so F-bombs, she ducked into the hallway bathroom, brushed her teeth, and got to work on the thick, dark-brown, wild Irish pain-in-the-ass on her head that was her hair.

On most days, there was a routine Maddie followed that involved a quick shower, a bit of hair product, and – if she ever got far enough – a good hour of blow-drying her hair into submission if she wanted it to look good.

Today, however, obviously wasn't one of those days. No – at the moment, the most Maddie could do to tame her hair was take a paddle brush to it and put it into some sporty little ponytail. So, that's what she did – she beat at her hair viciously with the brush, gathered it at the crown of her head into a high ponytail, tied it with a hair tie, and threw on a wide electric-blue headband for good measure.

Briefly, Maddie looked at her reflection in the mirror, pulling her mouth to one side as she looked at her hair. _Not exactly perfect, but it'll work for now. _

"MADELEINE, GET DOWN HERE BEFORE YOU'RE LATE FOR SCHOOL!" Aunt Dana yelled up from the bottom of the stairwell.

Maddie shook her head. "Yeah yeah yeah, I'm coming!"

With a sigh, she darted back into the bedroom, looped her arm through the strap of her messenger pack, grabbed her silver iPod classic off the nearby dresser, and headed downstairs, muttering agitated obscenities under her breath while she crammed her headphones into her ear canals to block out the sound of her aunt's incessant yelling.

"All right, I'm ready," Maddie huffed boredly. "Let's jet."

Aunt Dana shook her head, and gave her niece a quick eyeball. "About time. We'll be lucky if we can get you to Horace Green before the bell…" She immediately trailed off when her eyes fell on Maddie's jump boot-clad feet. "You are _not _wearing those to school, Madeleine-"

"Okay, one – for the love of God, _PUH-LEASE _call me Maddie; and two – one of the socks has a huge run in it, and there's no way in hell I'm gonna let anybody see it. Capische? Please, they're the only shoes I have that'll cover the run! I don't wanna look tacky on my first day of school! Cut me some slack!"

Aunt Dana looked at Maddie skeptically, but she nodded. "Fair enough, but you'd better not get in trouble for those. Now c'mon, we've gotta get you outta here."

Maddie rolled her eyes. "'Bout damn time," she mumbled to herself as she walked outside into the chilly October morning and to her aunt's BMW. Sluggishly, she opened the passenger door and climbed in, slamming the door shut as she put her iPod on shuffle and went through the albums in search of something good to listen to. Luckily, after a few rejects, Maddie came across the Offspring's _Americana_; that worked for her.

With a sigh, Maddie cranked the volume, watched the passing scenery, and tuned out of reality as she headed off towards her new school.


	2. New Kid in School

**Author's Note: **All right dudes, hope you all enjoyed the first chappie! I know I did. x) By the way, I forgot to mention at the end of the last chapter that Katie will still be a part of the story, but she's just gonna be out with an injury (I'm thinking along the lines of a broken arm or something like that…). I'm not about to toss her in favor of my OC – in fact, I think that keeping Katie will add more to the story. I dunno – you tell me. So yeah, she'll definitely still be hanging around with the SoR. Expect a Posh sighting soon! :)

**_Nerdoose Girl_**: Yes, this does take place after the concert, BUT, it takes place in their high school years. (Whoever reads this and thinks it's a bullshit story now, PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!) I know it's been done billions of times before, but I'm gonna tweak it so it makes more sense than the others. Besides, I read somewhere that prep schools usually encompass elementary, middle and high schools, hence the SoR kids being in high school, but still at Horace Green. Hope that answers your question! :)

**Disclaimer: **I own… a t-shirt I got from cross country that says "Running is a mental sport, and we're all INSANE" on the back. It's true - runners really are insane. Why the hell else would we run ten miles for fun on a Saturday morning? XD In case you're wondering, yes, I've run ten miles before - but I did it for the sake of running AND for the sake of getting a crap-ton of free bagels and pancakes from my cross country coach. I kid you not.

**WHEW! That was a mouthful! Anywho, onto the story! :D**

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

In all honesty, Horace Green Preparatory was a pretty damn big school (which made perfect sense, considering that it housed grades K – 12) – the building itself could've easily swallowed up a high school and a couple elementary schools. Even with its gargantuan size though, there was still a crap-ton of space left over for a polished football field, a baseball diamond, and a decent-sized playground for the elementary school kids.

It was pretty good-looking, too; it looked like one of those schools you'd find hidden away in some obscure little New Hampshire town, complete with the big wooden doors, stone arches, and intricate details. Hell, if somebody didn't know any better, he or she might've thought they'd stumbled upon a smaller version of Harvard. All in all, it wasn't a bad piece of property.

Still, Maddie couldn't help but feel a little weird as she looked out her window at the massive school she and Aunt Dana were now driving towards. She wasn't scared, however, nor was she mistrusting; she just felt… well, at this point, Maddie had no idea _how _she felt.

_This has GOTTA be my nerves talking. Jesus... C'mon, get it together, James…_

Aunt Dana pulled up to the front of the school, braking for a moment to let Maddie grab her gear and get out. "Hurry hurry, missy – don't wanna miss the bell."

Maddie inwardly groaned. _Must you be so freckin' ANAL about punctuality?_

"Yep, got it. Catch you later."

Aunt Dana didn't say anything to her niece; she just closed the passenger door, and zipped away before Maddie could say another word.

Maddie huffed, and scowled as she watched her aunt drive away. _Wow, tough love much? Fucking leaves without so much as a "see you later"… _Briefly, she made a mental note to bring that up with Aunt Dana when she got out of school.

Then, with a long sigh, Maddie turned around, pulled open the doors, and made her way into the halls of Horace Green Prep.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

After a good thirty seconds of walking, Maddie at last found herself standing in the attendance office, and was now leaning against an aide's counter, boredly waiting for her to print up her schedule and a bunch of other crap to help her "feel at home with the Horace Green Lions." The sheer cheesiness of the pamphlets sitting on the counter nearly made Maddie snort out loud.

_Pfft, yeah, as if. Who the fuck do they think they're kidding?_

Finally, the aide behind the counter beamed at Maddie, and handed her the schedule. "All right Miss James, here you go… Miss Mullins will be out to escort you to your first period class in a second."

"Sweet, thanks."

True to the aide's word, 'Miss Mullins' emerged from an office nestled in the back left corner a second later, grinned at Maddie, and asked her to follow her. She nodded, and quickly jogged over to the bespectacled older woman before following her out into the halls.

"So, what's your name?"

Maddie smiled slightly. "Madeleine James; most people call me Maddie, though."

"Maddie, huh?"

"Yeah, it's shorter to say that than it is to say Madeleine. Plus, I think it's more fitting."

"Gotcha."

The two went silent as they walked through the school. During that time, Miss Mullins started singing a song under her breath – a song that Maddie quickly recognized as Fleetwood Mac's _Gypsy_.

Maddie smirked. "Fleetwood Mac, huh? You a fan?"

Miss Mullins stopped singing, and looked at Maddie with a surprised expression on her face. "Yeah, huge fan. You know them?"

"Oh yeah. I know them and every other decent musician from the last century." As proof of her statement, Maddie brought her messenger bag around to the front, revealing the billions of pins and doodles that showed the likes of either Fender bass guitars or legends such as Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Pearl Jam, Led Zeppelin, Blue Oyster Cult, Ted Nugent, the Sex Pistols, the Clash, Boston, Nirvana, and many others decorating the bag's flap.

Miss Mullins chuckled as she looked at the bag. "I think you're going to get along great with a bunch of the kids here."

_Ha, we'll see about that. _

"By the way," Miss Mullins smirked, "nice boots."

"Heh, you noticed?"

"Yep – they're very cool, but they go against the school dress code."

"Yeeeah… I got a huge run in one of my socks this morning, and threw on the boots so it wouldn't show," Maddie admitted sheepishly.

"I see. Well, I'll let it slide for today, but I expect to see you in proper shoes for the rest of the year, Maddie."

At that, Maddie mentally blew a raspberry at Miss Mullins._ C'mon! You're a fucking Fleetwood Mac fan! You of all people should be fine with them!_

By now, the two found themselves standing in front of a door. A brass plaque next to it read _**231 -**__**Josephine Goetz, Junior Language Arts**_ in delicate cursive lettering.

Reading it, Maddie nodded. _Not bad – English first period. _

Curtly, Miss Mullins rapped on the door, and smiled at somebody through the glass – more than likely the teacher, Maddie assumed.

She assumed right; just then, a tall, blonde woman strutted over and opened the door. She looked Maddie up and down, eyebrows furrowing when she saw the combat boots.

Maddie sighed. "Only shoes I had to cover up a run in my sock," she explained to the teacher.

"Oh, I see. I'll assume Miss Mullins told you about the dress code, though?"

"Yeah, she did."

"Excellent." The teacher smiled then, and stuck a hand out to Maddie. "I'm Miss Goetz, your English teacher."

Maddie shook her hand gently. "Madeleine James – I go by Maddie, though."

"All right, Maddie it is. But, just for today, I'm going to call you by your first name, okay?"

"Um, yeah, sure."

Miss Goetz beamed. "Wonderful." She sent an assuring nod to Miss Mullins. "It's all right, Rosalie, I can take it from here."

"Okay then. See you around, Maddie. Good luck."

Then, with that said, Miss Mullins walked back to her office, leaving Maddie alone in the hall with Miss Goetz.

"All righty, then – you all set?"

Maddie nodded, and readjusted her messenger pack. "Yep… Let's do this."

Squaring her shoulders and holding her chin up, Maddie followed Miss Goetz into the classroom, where she was instantly greeted by 21 pairs of eyes and hisses and whispers – well, except for one girl, who was silent as the grave, and who sat in her desk with her hands in her lap, her back board-rigid, and her ankles crossed as she glared disdainfully at the 20 other kids surrounding her.

_Oh boy, _Maddie thought while trying to bite back a snicker. _We've got ourselves a brown-noser. _

"All right guys, settle down," Miss Goetz instructed them in a nice, but firm voice. Once the students had silenced, Miss Goetz continued speaking. "All right, we have a new student joining us today – I'd like you all to meet Madeleine James."

_Well, guess that's my cue. _

Exhaling slowly, Maddie stepped up to the front of the classroom, trying her damnedest not to shrink under the 21 gazes locked on her.

"All right, tell us your name, age, where you're from, and three things you want us to know about you."

Maddie blinked, folded her arms in front of her chest, and blew air out the side of her mouth. "'Kay," she began, "so yeah, name's Madeleine James, I'm almost 17, and I'm from Brewster, Mass. I'm a rock n' roll junkie, I've been playing a Fender Precision bass guitar since I was 11, and I usually go by Maddie."

It was silent in the classroom for about one millisecond. After that one millisecond, though, someone in the front row – the brown-noser – raised her hand and asked Miss Goetz if she could speak, to which she said yes.

The brown-noser smiled at Maddie. "Hi, I'm Summer Hathaway, and welcome to Horace Green. I'm excited to have you as a classmate."

"Uh… thanks?"

"You're welcome." Briefly, her eyes fell to Maddie's feet, and her face puckered up in slight disgust when she saw the boots. "However, you should know that you aren't allowed to be wearing those… boots. The school dress code forbids them."

As soon as Summer – _what the hell kind of a name's Summer? _– mentioned the boots, all eyes fell on Maddie and her Corcorans. Some kids stared at her boots like they were something to be feared, and some just shrugged, maybe said "sweet kicks" and went back to what they'd been doing before she'd showed up.

In response to Summer and the other shocked kids, Maddie rolled her eyes. "Variety's the spice of life, kids," she replied, not wishing to explain the real reason for wearing the boots and feeling almost like Judd Nelson from _the Breakfast Club _as the 'DUH' all but oozed from her voice. Having nothing more to say to the kids then, she turned to Miss Goetz. "All right, where should I park?" she asked boredly.

"Oh, yes, you need a seat. Hmmm…" She tapped her chin in thought, and scanned the room until she found an empty desk in the back right corner, right next to a kid with dark brown eyes and an equally-dark brown mop of hair. From where Maddie was standing, she could see the long, thin fingers of his left hand twitching and curling in the air, making it look almost like he was playing chords on a guitar; just as well, she could also hear him mumbling something under his breath – what sounded vaguely like the lyrics to Jimi Hendrix's _Foxy Lady_.

Maddie's lips quirked up into a one-sided smile. _Hendrix, huh__… Nice choice of music._

"Zack?" Miss Goetz called out to the boy. "Nobody's occupying the desk next to yours, correct?"

No answer – the kid named 'Zack' continued air-guitaring the chords for _Foxy Lady _like Miss Goetz had never even asked the question.

"_Zack Mooneyham!_" Miss Goetz snapped loudly, causing both Zack and Maddie to jump up in alarm.

Throwing his hands up in surrender, Zack swallowed the freaked-out lump in his throat. "Sorry, sorry, sorry! I didn't hear you!" he apologized quickly. "I swear I didn't hear you!"

Miss Goetz sighed in exasperation and rubbed her temples. "Well, Mister Mooneyham, if you had been paying attention instead of doing god-knows-what back there, you might've heard the question. Now, I'll ask again – nobody's occupying the desk beside yours, right?"

"Uh, yeah, right."

"Okay… In that case" – Miss Goetz turned to Maddie – "you can take the seat next to Zack."

Maddie nodded, again adjusted her messenger bag, and silently made her way to the back of the room, and to the desk next to Zack, who had already slipped back into his state of distraction, and was now scribbling something like mad on a piece of notebook paper. When she got there, she slipped her bag off her shoulder, and collapsed in her desk with a tired sigh. Then, pursing her lips, she stared at Miss Goetz. "All right, give it to me, teach."

Miss Goetz blinked in slight surprise for a moment, but she nodded and walked up to the board, where she started writing out the basic formula for a rhetorical enthymeme. "Now, you don't have to take notes for the moment, as I'll be handing out a copy of this shortly, but I do want you to listen and pay attention…"

As Miss Goetz went on about rhetorical strategies and other things that didn't catch her interest, Maddie subtly gazed at Zack out of the corner of her eye, watching as his hand fluidly moved across the paper. She had to admit, the kid had pretty graceful handwriting – it didn't look like the chickenscratch of most boys she knew; it looked neat, almost cursive, even. But, there was a carefree, relaxed flair to it that made it more… well, guy-ish. Frankly, Maddie found watching Zack write to be a helluva lot more interesting than listening to her new English teacher babble on about rhetorical devices.

_Wow, this is kinda' sad… First day of school and I already don't give two shits about what the teacher's saying…_

Just then, Maddie felt a slip of paper brush against the underside of her forearm – oddly enough, it was the same slip of paper Zack had been writing on only seconds ago, too. Frowning slightly, she looked over at him, wondering if he'd passed the paper to her; her suspicions were confirmed when he looked at her and nodded. Yep – the paper was from Zack.

As she exhaled through her nose, Maddie took the paper, unfolded it, and read what had been scrawled on the first line.

_**Never woulda' pegged u as a bass player, no offense**_

Maddie stifled a scoff. _Really now? Well, you pegged wrong, Boyo…_

She quickly fished a pen out from the bottom of her messenger bag, and started writing. _**Yeah, well, likewise - I never woulda' pegged u as a Hendrix fan, or an axe player**_

She then sent the paper back to Zack, and stared idly out the window to her left.

Seven seconds later, the note was back on Maddie's desk. _**Touché **_was underneath her response, and underneath that, _**Zack Mooneyham**_.

Maddie smirked lightly. _**Bet u get a lot of crap for that**_, she wrote. _**Madeleine James.**_

Zack: _**like the French cookie?**_

Maddie: _**unfortunately, yeah – like the French cookie**_

Zack: _**wow, that must be annoying…**_

Maddie: _**Like u wouldn't believe**_

Zack: _**that sux… so, u have a nickname or something?**_

Maddie: _**just Maddie, unless you can think of something clever...**_

Zack: _**gotcha**_

Maddie: _**yep. So, do u actually play gee-tar?**_

Zack: _**yep, been playing since I was 10**_

Maddie: _**sweet. What kind of axe do u play?**_

Zack: _**2 leads – one's a white flying v and the other's a red Les Paul custom. U?**_

Maddie: _**white fender precision bass with a black pickguard. Freckin' beauty it is**_

Zack: _**NICE. Just like Paul Simonon**_

Maddie: _**U know him and the Clash?**_

Zack: _**know the Clash and every other band worth listening to**_

As soon as she read his response, Maddie looked over at Zack, directly in the eyes, and grinned at him widely. "Dude," she whispered quietly, "you're fuckin' AWESOME." She then turned back to the note, and scribbled _**I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship… :)**_

Zack smirked when he read the note. _**Ha, funny, **_he wrote. He then added _**lemme see your schedule **_to his response before sending the note back to Maddie.

A moment later, the note was back on Zack's desk, along with the schedule. Briefly, Zack skimmed over the list of classes, then scribbled _**you're in 4 of my classes – the other 4 are in the same area **_under his last message, and passed it back to Maddie.

Maddie chuckled softly. _**Convenient – u can walk me to my classes now, cuz I have no idea where the hell anything is in this school**_

Zack: _**fair enough. Starting in 30 minutes, I'm your tourguide for the rest of the day**_

Maddie: **_cheesy, but okay :P... and 30 minutes? BOO_**

Zack: **_yep, welcome to hell :|_**

Maddie: **_I guess so... heh, at least we can be miserable toge-_**

"Madeleine?"

The suddenness of Miss Goetz's voice caused Maddie's hand to jerk across the paper and create an awkward scribble next to where she'd been writing. She scowled for a brief instant, then tried to sound like she'd been paying attention the entire time. "Yeah?"

"Could you give me an example of a rhetorical enthymeme?"

Immediately, Maddie's palms got sweaty and her insides started jumping about in nervousness as the 21 gazes of her new classmates fell on her, and waited expectantly for her to say something. She opened her mouth to speak - and all that came out was "Uh..."

"It doesn't have to be anything awe-inspiring, Madeleine."

_Oh, shut up lady, I'm working on it..._

Again, Maddie opened her mouth, hoping that something marginally more intelligent than "Uh" would could out this time. Thirty seconds later, something did.

"Uh... Socrates is mortal... beeecause... he's human...?"

_Good one, James. Way to sound like a fucking idiot..._

"Huh... I suppose that works," Miss Goetz nodded. "Okay - what's your claim?"

"Socrates is mortal."

"Your reason?"

"He's human."

"And your warrant?"

"Uh... All humans are mortal?"

Miss Goetz nodded in satisfaction. "Very good. Thank you, and nice job."

As soon as Miss Goetz's back was to the class again, Maddie exhaled heavily in relief and slumped in her desk. _Christ Almighty, that was close... God, learn to pay better attention, dummy._

While she caught her breath, Maddie noticed Zack lean towards her with a thin, one-sided smile on his face. "Nice save," he whispered to her. She nodded silently in thanks, and picked up her pen and the note sitting on her desk.

**_Well, that'll teach me to listen closely... Jesus, does she usually do that?_** she wrote quickly, hoping that Miss Goetz wouldn't call on her to provide another example again, then slipped the note under Zack's forearm.

His reply came a few seconds later. **_Sadly, yep - she does it to see who's paying attention. Thankfully, you were, so she didn't make you look like an ass in front of everyone. _**

Maddie: **_yeah, thank god for that... I suddenly don't like her so much anymore..._**

Zack: _**join the club... On the other side, she's not as bad as some of the other teachers here...**_

Maddie: _**How bad are we talking?**_

Zack: **_Let's just say that some of them are total nazis about participation and paying attention and crap like that... If I'm right, I think ur French teacher's 1 of them..._**

Maddie: **_that one actually doesn't surprise me... oh well... thanks for the heads-up... really quick, how much time's left 'til class is over?_**

Zack: _**eh... about 29 or so...**_

Maddie: _**CRAP. **_

Zack: **_Don't worry about it. Class actually goes by pretty quick. Well, it usually does... _**

Maddie: _**I get the feeling it's not 1 of those days. In that case, might as well sit back and gut it out**_

Zack: _**Might as well... Probably be a good idea to hold off on chit-chat until class is over. Goetz'll get pissed if she catches us passing this back and forth**_

Nothing else needed to be said. So, both Maddie and Zack hunkered down in their seats, and braced for a long thirty minutes of lecture and notes.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of waiting, the bell rang, and first period ended. With a tired sigh, Maddie threw her things into her messenger bag, and headed for the door as she slung the worn strap over her shoulder. Just as she was stepping of the classroom though, a voice - Zack's voice, to be precise - called her back.

"Hey - I _am _still gonna show you around the school, aren't I?"

"Yeah yeah, right. Sorry, I'm a little outta things right now."

Zack nodded. "Yeah, Goetz's lectures'll do that to you."

"Well, half of the spaciness is from the lecture; the other half's just from being dog-ass tired." Maddie stopped, pausing to blow a strand of stray hair out of her face before resuming. "I mean, I'm sorry, but what is it with schools and thinking that it's good to be up before everyone else?"

Zack shook his head, and smirked at Maddie. "Been wondering that since kindergarten," he chuckled before stuffing some papers into his backpack carelessly, and looping one arm through one of the straps. He nodded his head in the direction of the hallway. "Ready?"

"Yep. Lead on, Mooneyham."

The two ambled into the hallway, and slowly made their way to their respective second-period classes (Zack explained on the way to Maddie's that they both had chemistry in the same hall and during the same period, but different teachers), shooting questions and trying to get to know each other better.

"So why bass guitar?"

Maddie shrugged. "Dunno," she said. "I just thought it would be cool to play it, so I asked my mom for the gear and some lessons, and here I am now." She snickered briefly. "Course, the fact that it was a four-string instrument had some influence, too. I figured four strings would be relatively easy to learn."

"Was it?"

"Nope."

Zack laughed. "You think _that _was it bad, try learning a six-stringer."

"Yeah, I think I'll skip and stick to bass guitar," Maddie said with a grin. "Speaking of six-stringers, what's the deal with you and the Flying V and everything?"

So Zack told Maddie. As it turned out, he'd played classical guitar before he picked up electric, and - even better - he was the lead guitarist in a band with some other kids from Horace Green (and all in Maddie's grade, too). Apparently, he'd been in the band for as long as he'd been playing guitar. Well, electric guitar, anyway.

Maddie chuckled when she heard that. "Classical to electric, huh? There's gotta be a story behind that."

"Yeah, a damn long one, too."

"Hey, I've got plenty of time."

Zack smirked. "I'll bet you do... Tell you what - we have the same lunch period, so how 'bout I tell you then? It'll give you a chance to meet everyone else in the band, too."

"Well," Maddie pointed out, "if I haven't already done that."

"All right, you'll meet whoever you _haven't _met by the time lunch rolls around. That work for you?"

"Oh yeah." By now, the two were standing beside a door with another brass plaque - this time for chemistry with Earl Flanagan - and the bell was apparently a few seconds away from ringing in second period. With a quick smile, Zack wished Maddie good luck, then took off running down the hall to his chemistry class, yelling over his shoulder that he'd catch her later.

As she watched Zack disappear into another classroom, Maddie shook her head and smiled to herself. _Kid's not too bad, _she thought. _Maybe going to school here won't be so shitty.__  
><em>

__Then, with that, Maddie turned on her heel, opened the door in front of her, and walked into her second period class.


End file.
